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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23716306">Bubblewrap</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMyfanwy/pseuds/SilverMyfanwy'>SilverMyfanwy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anniversary, Clint Barton Needs a Hug, Deaf Clint Barton, F/M, Fluff, Hurt Clint Barton, M/M, Minor Injuries, Missions, Polyamory, Presents, Tony Stark Has A Heart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 21:42:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,998</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23716306</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMyfanwy/pseuds/SilverMyfanwy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In which there is a mission, injuries and a date, featuring chocolate, bubble wrap and Hungarian.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clint Barton/Natasha Romanov/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fandom Trumps Hate 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bubblewrap</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/picklesandsweetpea/gifts">picklesandsweetpea</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! Hope everyone is safe! Wash your hands!<br/>This is a oneshot for picklesandsweetpea for Fandom Trumps Hate 2020. Natasha/Clint/Tony, post-mission care and date night. See end notes for warnings.</p><p>Come say hi on Tumblr! silvermyfanwy</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Clint beat Natasha to the jug of water on the table and she’d never felt a loss as sore as that one. “How could you do that to me?”</p><p>He didn’t look at her as he downed the entire thing- straight out of the jug, the pig- in one go. “I’m thirsty.”</p><p>“Not after you just drank a litre of water you’re not.” Natasha walked past him to stick her head in the sink and gulp down water as it came out of the tap.</p><p>“I am.” Clint said insistently and pushed past her to fill up the jug again.</p><p>Natasha took a step back and wiped the water off her face with the back of her arm. “Why can’t you just drink it out of the tap like a normal person?”</p><p>“That’s not what normal people do coz it’s not civilised.” Clint retorted.</p><p>Natasha raised an eyebrow at him as he downed another jug-full. “Because that is?”</p><p>He stuck his tongue out at her. “Change of subject, what day is it?”</p><p>“Uh, Thursday?” Natasha guessed. “I haven’t really been paying attention.”</p><p>“I don’t think it’s Thursday.” Clint said. “Where’s a calendar?” he left the jug on the table and stuck his head through the doorway into the next room.</p><p>“We’re in a safe house that’s barely got electricity why the hell would there be a calendar?” Natasha drawled and sat at the table. She started untying her boots and listened to Clint rummaging through the drawers in the ancient dresser.</p><p>“Found one!” he crowed triumphantly.</p><p>“And?”</p><p>“It’s from 1998.”</p><p>Natasha laughed. “Told you!”</p><p>“We can work it out from the this, though. Work out what day of the week today would have been n if it was in 1998 and then-”</p><p>“If we don’t know what the day of the week is, I think it means that we don’t know what the date is today either.” Natasha pointed out.</p><p>Clint pouted. “You’re too clever.” He slumped into the chair next to her and started picking at the edge of the table. “What do we do now?”</p><p>Natasha’s phone rang and she answered it. “Hello?”</p><p>“Who is it?” Clint asked.</p><p>“Shush. Hey! Yes, that was Clint, who else would it have been? Are you ringing about some sort of emergency? Great, do you know what day it is? Oh, okay. I thought it was Thursday.”</p><p>“Was I right?” Clint asked.</p><p>“Be quiet and let me talk to Tony.”</p><p>“Oh, can I talk to him after you?”</p><p>“Okay. We’ll finish up here. See you later.” Natasha hung up.</p><p>“And? What day is it?” Clint demanded.</p><p>“Friday.” Natasha pressed her lips together and stood up. “You know what that means.”</p><p>Clint thought for a moment. “Date night.”</p><p>“Yep. We’re getting picked up in an hour, so we’ll be back at the Tower in time to go out for dinner with Tony like we planned. And we’re going to those gardens beforehand as well.” Natasha went to the sink again and started splashing water over her face.</p><p>“Can we not just have a stay at home date and eat pizza and fall asleep on the sofa in front of Star Wars?” Clint asked.</p><p>Natasha gave him an exasperated look. “It’s our anniversary next week but Tony’s out of town so we’re having the celebration this week.”</p><p>Realisation dawned on Clint. “Oh. Do I need to sort presents out? Have you got presents?”</p><p>“I’ve got a present for you but it’s impossible to get anything for Tony so I’ve had Pepper find him a statue he might like.”</p><p>“Can you make it be from both of us?” Clint asked hopefully. “I haven’t sorted any presents out.”</p><p>“No way. It took me ages to sort it out; think of your own thing. And I want a new necklace; I want it to be gold but it doesn’t have to be actual gold. You can buy me that.” Natasha told him.</p><p>“What am I supposed to get Tony?” Clint asked. “And how am I supposed to get it by tonight?”</p><p>“You can always tell him that you’re saving it for when he comes back so that it’s after the actual anniversary. Gives you another week to try and sort something out.” Natasha said.</p><p>Clint thought for a moment. “Cake? Cake is good, I like cake.”</p><p>“Yeah, <em> you </em> like cake. Tony likes-” Natasha’s phone began to ring again. “Be quiet.”</p><p>She answered, then hung up without saying a word, then began to tug her boots back on. “We have to go back out.”</p><p>“What? Why?” Clint furrowed his eyebrows.</p><p>“Apparently, there are bombs and guns and according to Fury we didn’t finish the job first time.” Natasha said bitterly. “He’s so picky. Why couldn’t he send others in?”</p><p>“Fury?” Clint swung his bow over his shoulder. “How bad is it for Fury to be calling you?”</p><p>There was the sound of an explosion somewhere in the distance.</p><p>They looked at each other and winced.</p><p>“Pretty bad.” Natasha said.</p><p>They scrambled to their feet and ran out of the house.</p><p>-</p><p>“What the <em> hell </em> happened to you two?” Tony asked incredulously. He was standing on the runway, leaning against the Quinjet with his hands on his hips and sunglasses on. He took them off and squinted at Clint and Natasha as they came closer. “What the <em> hell </em>happened to you?”</p><p>Natasha was limping and leaning on Clint’s shoulder, her hair dishevelled and strips of ragged, bloodied fabric wrapped around her knee. She was holding an ice pack to her collarbone and had several scrapes on her face, along with an impressive mural of pale yellow bruises forming on her right arm. Clint had a very dazed look about him; he was holding one wrist to his chest and he had a plaster on his chin.</p><p>“We had to go back and do a second mission after the first one.” Natasha said wearily. “It didn’t go so well.”</p><p>Tony took his sunglasses off and slid them into his pocket. “I can tell. Have you had <em> any </em> medical attention at all?”</p><p>Clint and Natasha looked at each other and shook their heads. “I think Clint’s got a concussion.” Natasha told him.</p><p>“I think I have a concussion.” Clint seconded.</p><p>Tony sighed. “Get in the jet. Why did you have to do a second mission? I thought it was only supposed to be one.”</p><p>Natasha rolled her eyes and pulled herself into the Quinjet with a wince. “Fury wasn’t happy with the first one so made us go back and there were explosions and stuff and it didn’t go very well.”</p><p>“No kidding.” Tony and Clint climbed in after her.</p><p>Clint immediately sat down on the floor and looked up at Natasha pitifully. “Can I have your ice pack?”</p><p>She handed it to him and he pressed it to his forehead, groaning in relief. Natasha lay down on the floor next to him and closed her eyes. “We can go home now, Tony.”</p><p>“You’re both really bashed up, aren’t you?”</p><p>They nodded simultaneously.</p><p>Normally, when a single serious injury was inflicted on either one of them, there would be complaints and arguments for days as they protested their ability and insisted that they were fine and perfectly capable of doing normal tasks despite a bullet wound or a knife wound or a broken bone or a dislocated limb or torn muscle or a head injury or strong painkillers or a lot of doctor’s instructions to lie in bed and do pretty much nothing. When there’d been a fight or something a little more unusual, like a building collapsing on top of them or they’d been zapped by an alien and there were lots of minor injuries, they spent two weeks milking it and aiming to be waited on hand and foot. This appeared to be one of those cases.</p><p>“JARVIS, cancel the reservation for tonight, and where did I-”</p><p>Natasha waved a hand at Tony to cut him off. “We’ll be fine. There’s no need to cancel.”</p><p>Tony looked at her skeptically. “Are you sure? You two were barely walking earlier.”</p><p>“I’m sure.” Natasha closed her eyes again.</p><p>“JARVIS, where’s the first aid kit?” Tony asked and began to search as Clint tapped Natasha on the shoulder and then took a hearing aid off.</p><p>“Why are you only taking one off?” Natasha signed.</p><p>“Lost the other one.”</p><p>“Are we signing?” Tony asked without turning around as he pulled a yellow first aid kit out of a compartment in the wall.</p><p>“Yeah. Why haven’t we left yet?” Natasha asked.</p><p>“We’re waiting for Steve. He flew over with me because apparently he has to sort out some stuff from your mission and then we’re flying him home.”</p><p>“Tell him to hurry up. I want my slippers.” Natasha reached down with a wince and started unlacing her combat boots.</p><p>“JARVIS, what she said. Get Rogers to hurry up.” Tony walked over to Clint and handed him the first aid kit.</p><p>“When did you install JARVIS in here?” Natasha asked as Tony to cotton wool and antiseptic out of the first aid kit and began sponging at Clint’s face. “I thought you had FRIDAY in the Quinjet”</p><p>“Friday’s been moved to another department.” Tony out Clint’s wrist into a sling. “What’s he done to his wrist? It doesn’t look like a break. Sprain?”</p><p>“It took a pretty hard knock. Bruising’s my best guess.”</p><p>Clint blinked a few times and his eyes focused a bit more. He rummaged in a pocket and pulled out spare, un-mangled, hearing aids and put them on. “My wrist hurts.”</p><p>“Yeah, coz you smashed it into a concrete wall.” Natasha said. “Remember?”</p><p>Clint thought for a moment. “Had my bow just broken?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Then yes. Why aren’t we flying?”</p><p>“We’re waiting for Steve.” Tony said impatiently. “Who is taking a very long time. How the heel did your bow get broken? It’s not supposed to be able to break!”</p><p>“Uh, I think a lorry fell on it. Tash, was it the lorry or the speedboat?”</p><p>“Lorry.”</p><p>“It was a lorry.” Clint told Tony.</p><p>“Sir, Captain Rogers is approaching the plane. Shall I prepare for lift-off?” JARVIS asked.</p><p>“Yes. You want a hand?” Tony turned to Natasha, who as bandaging her ankle.</p><p>“Want a foot.” she grumbled. The flight door opened and they heard footsteps. She looked up. “Rogers. I’ve got words to have with you.”</p><p>“Fury’s got words to have with you and Clint.” Steve said. He stopped short when he caught sight of Clint and Natasha’ injuries. “What happened to you two?”</p><p>“The mission Fury wants to have words with us about happened. I blame him for all of this entirely.” Natasha said. She waved a hand at the control desk. “Go fly the plane so we can go home. I’m keeping my boyfriend with me.” she tugged Tony down to her side and Steve went over to the pilot’s chair.</p><p>“What did Fury have to say?” Clint asked. He curled up into Tony’s side with Tony’s arm over his shoulder; Natasha was resting her head on Tony’s shoulder on the other side.</p><p>“After seeing you two, and knowing that you wouldn’t end up injured that badly if you had proper information on what to do, I now think everything Fury had to say was bull.” Steve said plainly.</p><p>Natasha smiled, eyes closed. “I love it when he agrees with me.”</p><p>“You love it when anyone agrees with you.” Tony pointed out.</p><p>“True.”</p><p>Clint looked up at Tony. “My chin hurts.”</p><p>“Want me to kiss it better?”</p><p>Clint nodded and tilted his head up for Tony to kiss his chin and then his lips.</p><p>“Get a room.” Natasha muttered and glared at Tony. “Why don’t I get a kiss?”</p><p>Tony obliged and kissed her on the forehead. “Is that better?”</p><p>Natasha nodded and closed her eyes. “What time is it?”</p><p>“It is 2:26 pm Ms Romanoff.” JARVIS said.</p><p>“I’m getting bored of that surname.” Natasha said. “I might change it to Monrovia.”</p><p>Tony looked at Natasha in surprise. “Is changing your surname because you get bored of it something you do regularly?”</p><p>Natasha nodded.</p><p>“You can change it to Stark if you want.” Tony offered.</p><p>Natasha opened one eye and glared at him again. “I’m not marrying you. You can marry Clint, but I’m not tying my soul to yours because you’ll accidentally sell it to the devil or something and I don’t want to be a part of that.”</p><p>Clint and Tony exchanged a confused look, though that was possibly mainly because Clint was confused from his concussion.</p><p>“I’m gonna go to sleep now.” Natasha decided and pressed closer to Tony.</p><p>“I think that might be a good idea.”</p><p>-</p><p>When they landed, Tony chickened out of having to be the one to wake up his partners and got JARVIS to do it instead.</p><p>“My head hurts.” Clint groaned, blinking. “Oh.”</p><p>“What?” Tony asked, concerned.</p><p>“The room’s not spinning anymore.”</p><p>Tony facepalmed. Natasha removed herself from his embrace and stood up, wincing. “You and Rogers deal with the plane.” she said to Tony, then hobbled away. Clint followed her.</p><p>Steve turned to face Tony, a questioning look on his face.</p><p>“Don’t.” Tony said wisely. “I haven’t got any more answers on all of this than you do.”</p><p>He followed them out and onto the roof of the tower and had JARVIS take the lift down to his floor. It was empty. “JARVIS, are they not here?”</p><p>“We’re in your bathroom!” Natasha called from the bathroom. “You got any chocolate?”</p><p>-</p><p>Within minutes, Clint was sitting next to Natasha who was sprawled over Tony’s bed. She had a box of chocolates balanced on her stomach while Tony bandaged up her ankle. Clint had tangled his fingers with hers and was on the verge of falling asleep.</p><p>“I’m cancelling tonight. You two are both in a state.” Tony said quietly.</p><p>“Tony Stark, do that and I will never talk to you again.” Natasha said.</p><p>Her tone of voice was off and Tony looked up at her, concerned. “Are you okay?”</p><p>“I will be if you don’t cancel.” Natasha said quietly, looking him in the eyes and daring him for a challenge.</p><p>“It’s one thing deciding that you can go, but it’s Clint’s decision about whether he’s well enough or not.” Tony said quietly, looking at the duvet.</p><p>“We’ll wrap him in bubblewrap and he’ll be fine.” Natasha said. She squeezed Clint’s hand and he looked at her sleeping. “If we wrap you up in bubblewrap will you be alright to come out tonight?”</p><p>Clint nodded and closed his eyes.</p><p>“See?” Natasha said.</p><p>Tony sighed internally and prepared himself for a long night.</p><p>-</p><p>A couple of hours later, things were going a lot better.</p><p>Natasha and Clint had migrated to the sofa and were watching TV, albeit with significantly less criticism of the special effects than normal.</p><p>When he had begun dating Clint and Natasha, Tony had been astonished by many things, but he had figured that they were all generic things to do with the fact that he was dating two former assassins. The thing that had astonished him the most, however, was absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they had been assassins.</p><p>Clint and Natasha were both obsessed with and fascinated by special effects in films and TV; Clint quite liked them in concerts as well but Natasha was less keen. Such was their interest, Clint had done an online degree in it and Natasha had done an apprenticeship with an indie film company in Canada some years before.</p><p>He was in the kitchen making coffee when he heard them both gasp. “What is it?” he called.</p><p>Clearly neither of them heard him because they didn’t reply and were having a quick-fire exchange in a garbled combination of Hungarian and English, tones outraged.</p><p>Tony took their coffee in to them. “What happened?”</p><p>Clint gestured at the TV wildly; Natasha was staring at the screen with her mouth hanging open.</p><p>“We saw the sound thing reflected in a car window and the camera operator!” Clint said, horrified.</p><p>Tony took a brief moment to stare at the ceiling. Clearly everything was going to be fine.</p><p>-</p><p>An hour before they were due to go out Natasha limped off to see if Thor would heal her ankle before she started getting ready. Clint stayed curled up on the sofa, not really paying any attention to the TV.</p><p>Tony watched him through the doorway for a moment. “Hey.” he said softly.</p><p>Clint looked up at him and smiled; Tony wondered how on earth he’d manage to get so lucky as to be able to call Clint his boyfriend. “Can I have a blanket?” Clint asked, voice small and tired.</p><p>“Of course.” Tony walked to the back of the sofa where a pile of blankets was kept. They were supposed to be nearly folded and kept in a stack, but no one had the patience for trying to wrangle them into order so they always ended up in a tangled heap.</p><p>“I want the purple one.” Clint croaked and Tony duly extracted it. “Would you like to tuck me in?”</p><p>Tony rolled his eyes fondly and wrapped the blanket tightly around Clint, who snuggled into it with a smile.</p><p>“Can your nano thingies turn this into bubblewrap?” Clint asked.</p><p>“Never tried.” Tony stroked Clint’s hair out of his eyes. “You don’t have to come tonight if you don’t want to. I can fend Tasha off. No one will hold anything against you for wanting to stay here. And we can call the whole thing off to stay with you. Or Natasha can go by herself.”</p><p>Clint smiled. “I’ll be fine. Just give me ten more minutes and then I’ll go and get ready.”</p><p>Toy kissed Clint on the forehead. “Okay. I’m gonna go and have a shower. Get JARVIS to yell at me if you need anything. JARVIS, make sure you yell at me if Clint needs something even if he isn’t asking for it himself.”</p><p>Clint rolled his eyes. “You smell a bit.”</p><p>“Charmer. Guess I’d better go and have that shower then.”</p><p>-</p><p>Natasha was half dressed in Tony’s bathroom when he walked in. She was facing the mirror and rubbing bruise cream over her shoulders, weight spread out over both feet.</p><p>“Thor fix your foot?”</p><p>She nodded.</p><p>“Sorry for the way I spoke to you earlier.” Tony slid his jeans off and rested his forehead against the back of Natasha’s neck. “I was a bit mean.”</p><p>“So was I, but I’m not apologizing because I know something you don’t.” Natasha smiled at Tony over her shoulder and twisted her head until she got a kiss.</p><p>Tony made a noise of dismay. “That’s not fair. I was the one who planned this date, I should know what’s going on.”</p><p>Natasha snickered and kissed him again. “Honey, I’d hijacked your plans before you’d even made them.”</p><p>Tony groaned. “I don’t want to know. Shower?”</p><p>“Showered already. Gonna get dressed and sort my hair out. Where’s Clint?”</p><p>“Sleeping.”</p><p>A slight twinge of guilt flashed across Natasha’s face. “Is he coming?”</p><p>Tony nodded. “He came to that gala with three broken ribs and there wasn’t even vodka on offer there.” Tony took off his shirt and walked into the shower.</p><p>“How are we getting there?” Natasha asked over the sound of the shower water drumming onto the floor of the bath.</p><p>“Have you not hijacked that part of my plan?”</p><p>“No. That bit’s boring so I left it to you.”</p><p>“Happy’s driving us. How else would we be getting anywhere?”</p><p>-</p><p>Clint got dressed up.</p><p>Clint got dressed up in a dark blue suit, dark grey shoes, odd socks suitably hidden beneath his trouser cuffs, the gold star cufflinks Peter had given him for Christmas on his shirt, hair combed, face cleaned up as much as possible and bubblewrap wrapped around his ribs. He was aware of the potential consequences of wearing it but he was going to be taking it off as soon as he got back to the tower, possibly even in the car before they got back. Regardless, he dressed up so nicely that even Jarvis noticed.</p><p>“Are you trying to impress Mr Stark and Ms Romanoff, Mr Barton?”</p><p>“I don’t want to impress them, I want to astonish them.”</p><p>Natasha was astonished. “Damn you look good.”</p><p>“I wish I wasn’t injured so I could appreciate you properly.” Clint said in return.</p><p>Natasha’s hair was curled and hung down over one shoulder, red dress shimmering in the glare of the lights. “The sentiment is shared.” she offered him her arm and they went to find Tony. I need to get my bag and then I’m ready to go.”</p><p>“When do I get my present?” Clint asked. “I feel like I should get mine now because I’m injured.”</p><p>“You’ll get yours at the same time as Tony gets his.” Natasha said.</p><p>“When will that be? Surely you’re not having the statue taken to wherever it is that we’re going.”</p><p>“Of course not. I’m going to show him a photo of it at the same time I give you yours.” Natasha’s bag was on her bedside table and Clint tried to peer into it. “It’s wrapped up. You won’t be able to work out what it is.”</p><p>Clint pouted.</p><p>“JARVIS, where’s our boyfriend?”</p><p>“Waiting for you in the garage?”</p><p>“Does he look pretty?” Clint said.</p><p>Natasha stared at him incredulously. “Pretty? What?”</p><p>“He does look pretty.” Clint asked. “Particularly when he wears my hoodies.”</p><p>“I don’t think he’ll be complying with the dress code if he wears a hoodie.” Natasha said.</p><p>“He’s Tony Stark, he does what he wants.”</p><p>Tony did look pretty. He looked like the Tony Stark that graced the covers of magazines; sleek, sharp and suited. He was beaming from ear to ear and whistled appreciatively as Clint and Natasha walked in. “Ready to go?”</p><p>“What does it look like?” Natasha drawled, smiling.</p><p>The drive was silent. Clint rested his head on Natasha’s shoulder and held Tony’s hand. The city was as dark as it could possibly get, with lights in apartment windows and on top of towers, billboards flashing and neon signs in restaurant and takeaway windows flickering.</p><p>“Remind me where we’re going.” Clint said softly.</p><p>“To get dinner.” Natasha said, smiling.</p><p>Clint beamed. “Pizza?”</p><p>“Nope. Italian. Elevated Italian fusion cuisine. Michelin starred.” Tony said.</p><p>Clint furrowed his eyebrows. “Surely Italian means pizza.”</p><p>“I think it might be too posh for pizza.” Natasha said.</p><p>“It won’t be too posh for pizza if you pay them loads of money.” Clint suggested hopefully to Tony.</p><p>“I promise you it will not be too posh for dough balls and garlic bread.” Tony said. “For that, are you willing to eat pizza?”</p><p>“Won’t it all be, like, crumbs and foams and weird floating soup and stuff if it’s elevated and has a Michelin Star?” Clint asked, concerned. “Have you checked the menu?”</p><p>“It’s so posh that they don’t put the menus online.” Natasha told Clint. “I would have checked for you otherwise.”</p><p>“Next year can we just be boring and go to the pizza place down the road?” Clint asked.</p><p>“I’m not a peasant.” Tony said. “But even nobility had to go and check on the peasants on their land occasionally.”</p><p>“You <em> own </em>the pizza place and you didn’t tell me?”</p><p>-</p><p>Dinner was not as bad as Clint, or secretly Natasha, had feared. Natasha ate fish and linguini, sharing bits with Clint who had a large platter of posh garlic bread, dough balls and bits of fried vegetables. Toy ate the weird posh stuff on the menu that Natasha had only learnt how to pronounce for the sake of maintaining cover.</p><p>“I have gifts. Tony said while they waited for dessert. He pulled two envelops out of a jacket pocket and gave one to each of them.</p><p>Natasha opened hers to fins a car key. She smiled “What’s it for?”</p><p>“I bought that Lamborghini you liked off SHIELD.” Tony said and kissed her hand. “It’ll be in the garage when we get back.”</p><p>“Thank you.” Natasha kissed him.</p><p>Clint gasped when he opened his envelope. “Are you serious?”</p><p>Natasha leaned over to see what Clint had got. “What is it?”</p><p>Clint flung his arms around Tony’s shoulders and hugged him tightly. “I love you and you are the best boyfriend ever thank you so much.”</p><p>Natasha picked up the piece of card that Clint had left on the table and examined it. “For real?”</p><p>Tony nodded and then kissed a beaming Clint enthusiastically. “I thought you’d like it.”</p><p>“There is absolutely no way that you can top this, Tasha.” Clint said, putting the card back in the envelope. “A year of free pizza from any pizza place in Manhattan, damn Tony Stark I love you. You can have your present when you get back from your trip next weekend.”</p><p>“Does Natasha get her present now?” Tony asked him.</p><p>“She gets hers at the same time that you get yours.” Clint said decisively. “Wouldn’t want things to be unfair. When do we get presents from you?” he turned to Natasha.</p><p>“I told you. Later, at the gardens.” her face lit up. “Oh, look. Pudding.”</p><p>Between them, Natasha and Clint devoured two cheesecakes a small pavlova while Tony stuck to coffee that probably cost more than a month’s worth of the waiter’s wages. As they took the lift down from the restaurant to the ground floor of the building it was in, Tony looked up directions to the botanical gardens and silently handed his phone to Clint.</p><p>“Yes. Yes please.” Clint said immediately and handed the phone back.</p><p>“What is it?” Natasha asked.</p><p>“We’re going past the twenty-four hour bakery on the way to the gardens.”</p><p>-</p><p>After stocking up on doughnuts, Happy drove them to the gardens, which were done up in magical fashion. Multicoloured strings of lights were strung between trees, up trees, along branches. Tiny spotlight sat underneath bushes, lighting them up from the inside and making them glow.</p><p>“They look like fairy snot.” Clint said, making Natasha burst into fits of giggles.</p><p>“Uncultured swine.” Tony shook his head at them in despair. This only made them giggle more.</p><p>Natasha led them up a small slope to a bench opposite a sparkling green waterfall. They simultaneously sighed in relief when they sat own and then burst out laughing.</p><p>“I’m getting old.” Tony groaned and buried his face in Natasha’s neck.</p><p>She stroked his hair. “We’re not recovering quite as quickly from injuries as we used to, either. Presents?”</p><p>“Yes please.” Tony and Clint said in unison.</p><p>Natasha fumbled in the pickets of her dress and did something on her phone for a moment before giving it to Tony. “That’s yours.”</p><p>“Where’s mine?” Clint demanded, holding his hand out eagerly.</p><p>“Hang on.” Natasha reached down the top of her dress and felt about before pulling out a folded piece of paper.</p><p>“Why was my present kept in your bra?” Clint asked warily, taking it all the same.</p><p>“It wasn’t my bra, it was a pocket on the outside of my bra.” Natasha turned to look at Tony. “Do you like it?”</p><p>He nodded and kissed her. “Did you get Pepper to buy it?”</p><p>“Of course.”</p><p>Clint peered over to see the photo. “What the hell is that?”</p><p>“It’s an abstract thing about a heart.” Tony said. “What did you get?”</p><p>“I haven’t looked yet.” Clint unfolded the paper and his eyebrows went further and further up his forehead as he read it. He looked at Tony with wide eyes. “For real? But you said-”</p><p>“I’m concerned about attaching my soul to yours. I am equally concerned about attaching my finances, property and legal rights to yours, but one step at a time, right?”</p><p>Clint looked at Natasha and he appeared to be ever so slightly on the verge of tears. He could see the fear in Natasha’s eyes. “You- you’re coming your life to one place and one country and one identity and one name and other people?” he glanced back at the paper. “You’ve- you-”</p><p>“With you two anything is possible.” Natasha said quietly. “Including this.”</p><p>Clint kissed her until his ribs began to ache and he remembered the extent of his injuries. “Yes.”</p><p>“Have another look at it.” Natasha told him.</p><p>Clint looked at the paper. “This is for <em> both </em> of us?”</p><p>“There’s a congressman that owes me a favour.” Natasha said shyly, smoothing her skirt. She faced Tony. “Fancy tying yourself to us financially? I’ve got a flat in Mexico City and a townhouse in Berlin. You got anything to offer?”</p><p>“Year’s worth of free Manhattan pizza?” Clint offered.</p><p>Even Tony giggled with them this time; giggled with tears and looks of surprise exchanged between Clint and Tony as they examined Natasha’s document again and again. They signed them then and there and posted them on the drive back to the tower.</p><p>“I think we should sleep on the sofa.” Clint said as they took the lift up to their floors. He’d already taken his shoes off and was undoing the buttons on his shirt.</p><p>“Pyjamas are closer to bed than they are to the sofa.” Toy pointed out. “And you will appreciate a mattress far more in the morning than you will the cushions on the sofa.”</p><p>Clothes were abandoned at various stages along the walk from the lift to their room, though not for the usual reasons. They piled into bed; Clint in purple fleece pyjamas, Natasha in a onesie and Tony in some hideously expensive silk thing.</p><p>Just before JARVIS turned the light off, Natasha noticed something on the floor. “Were you wearing bubblewrap under your shirt?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Did it work?”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“How are you two still alive?” Tony muttered.</p><p>“Spite and leprechaun magic.” Natasha muttered back. “Now please go to sleep so I can use your arm as a pillow.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Warnings:<br/>Descriptions of injuries<br/>Referenced violence<br/>Concussion<br/>Mild arguments in a relationship<br/>Mentions of food, water, hunger and thirst<br/>Someone wraps bubblewrap around their ribs</p><p>Let me know if I missed anything.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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